Season 1 Episode 29: Navigating Trade-Offs and Balancing Priorities

The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.

In this episode of Data Product Management in Action, host Alexa Westlake talks with Anita Chen, diving into the complexities of managing data products. Anita, a product manager at PagerDuty, shares her approach to defining data products, prioritizing work, and balancing project work with interrupt-driven tasks. They discuss the critical roles of governance, security, and user enablement while emphasizing the importance of transparency and communication. The conversation also explores the transformative potential of generative AI in data product interactions and the build-vs-buy decision-making process. Gain insights into how data product management uniquely differs from traditional software product management and learn actionable strategies for success.

• Meet our Host Alexa Westlake: Alexa is a Data Analytics Leader in the Identity and Access Management space with a proven track record scaling high-growth SaaS companies. As a Staff Data Analyst at Okta, she brings a wealth of expertise in enterprise data, business intelligence, and strategic decision-making from the various industries she's worked in including telecommunications, strategy execution, and cloud computing. With a passion for harnessing the power of data for actionable insights, Alexa plays a crucial role in driving Okta's security, growth, and scale, helping the organization leverage data to execute on their market opportunity. Connect with Alexa on LinkedIn.
  
  
• Meet our guest Anita Chen: Anita is a Data Product Manager at PagerDuty, a digital operations company helping teams resolve issues faster, eliminate alert fatigue, and build more reliable services! Her background is mainly in the People Analytics space which has now expanded to data at scale with our Enterprise Data Team. She currently helps build data products that enable our teams to deliver the best possible customer experience. Anita is most passionate about how data can impact someone's lived experience and endeavor to democratize data in everything she builds. Connect with Anita on LinkedIn.

All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.

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The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.

In Season 01, Episode 28, we are excited to introduce to you a new host, Alexa Westgate! Join us as we learn all about her data journey. She'll discuss how she got into DPM, some of her greatest moments and challenges. You'll be excited for her future episodes!

• About our host Alexa Westlake: Alexa is a Data Analytics Leader in the Identity and Access Management space with a proven track record scaling high-growth SaaS companies. As a Staff Data Analyst at Okta, she brings a wealth of expertise in enterprise data, business intelligence, and strategic decision-making from the various industries she's worked in including telecommunications, strategy execution, and cloud computing. With a passion for harnessing the power of data for actionable insights, Alexa plays a crucial role in driving Okta's security, growth, and scale, helping the organization leverage data to execute on their market opportunity. Connect with Alexa on LinkedIn.

All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.

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The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.

In the 25th celebration minisode of Data Product Management in Action, hosts Frannie Helforoush and Nadiem von Heydebrand reflect on the progress of data product management in 2024. They highlight the growing clarity and recognition of the field, the rise of AI product management, and the importance of thoughtful integration without succumbing to overhype. The episode revisits key 2024 discussions on building data platforms, decision support products, and data mesh implementation. Looking forward to 2025, they foresee increased interest and adoption, emphasizing the field's potential for driving organizational value. Frannie and Nadiem express excitement for future episodes and community contributions.

• About our Host Nadiem von Heydebrand: Nadiem is CEO and Co-Founder at Mindfuel. In 2019, he combined his passion for data science with product management and is a thought leader for data product management today, aiming to prove true value contribution from data. Working as an expert in the data industry for over a decade now, he has seen hundreds of data science initiatives, built scaled data teams and enabled global organizations like Volkswagen, Munich Re, Allianz, Red Bull, Vorwerk to become data-driven. With Mindfuel “Delight”, a Data Product Management SaaS solution combined with professional services, he brought in experience from hands-on challenges like scaling out data platforms and architecture, implementing data mesh concepts or transforming AI performance into business performance to delight consumers all over the globe. Connect with Nadiem on LinkedIn
  
  

• About our Host Frannie Helforoush: From coding to crafting customer-centric products, my journey began as a software engineer and evolved into a strategic product manager. With an innate curiosity for problem-solving, I fuse my expertise in data and product management to create impactful solutions as a data product manager now. With a background in both software engineering and product management, I seamlessly bridge the gap between the data and product worlds. I thrive on making data accessible and actionable for driving product innovation and ensuring that product thinking is applied to every aspect of data management. Connect with Frannie on LinkedIn

All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.

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The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.

In this special minisode celebrating the podcast's 25th episode milestone, hosts Michael Toland and Amritha Arun Babu reflect on their journey so far. They share the key lessons they've learned, moments they've enjoyed, and their excitement for the future of data product management. From insights into AI and ML to the importance of building strong data communities and infrastructure, this episode highlights the most impactful themes and sets the stage for what’s to come in 2025.

• About our Host Michael Toland: Michael is a Product Management Coach and Consultant with Pathfinder Product, a Test Double Operation. He has worked in product officially since 2016, where he worked at Verizon on large scale system modernizations and migration initiatives for reference data and decision platforms. Outside of his professional career, Michael serves as the Treasurer for the New Leaders Council, mentors fellows with Venture for America, sings in the Columbus Symphony, writing satire posts for his blog Dignified Product or Test Double, depending on the topic, and is excited to be chatting with folks on Data Product Management. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.

• About our Host Amritha Arun Babu Mysore: Amritha is an accomplished Product Leader with over a decade of experience building and scaling products across AI platforms, supply chain systems, and enterprise workflows in industries such as e-commerce, AI/ML, and marketing automation. At Amazon, she led machine learning platform products powering recommendation and personalization engines, building tools for model experimentation, deployment, and monitoring that improved efficiency for 1,500+ ML scientists. At Wayfair, she managed international supply chain systems, overseeing contracts, billing, product catalogs, and vendor operations, delivering cost savings and optimizing large-scale workflows. At Klaviyo, she drives both AI infrastructure and customer-facing AI tools, including recommendation engines, content generation assistants, and workflow automation agents, enabling scalable and personalized marketing workflows. Earlier, she worked on enterprise systems and revenue operations workflows, focusing on cost optimization and process improvements in complex technical environments. Amritha excels at bridging technical depth with strategic clarity, leading cross-functional teams, and delivering measurable business outcomes across diverse domains. Connect with Amritha on LinkedIn.

All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.

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The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.

This episode of Data Product Management in Action, host Michael Toland sits down with Max Fritzhand, the creator of Bolta AI, to explore how he turned a simple frustration into a powerful platform for managing social media on Threads. Max discusses leveraging machine learning, navigating API challenges, and engaging users to create a feature-rich tool that offers analytics, content suggestions, and optimal posting times. A must-listen for innovators and product managers alike!

• About our host Michael Toland: Michael is a Product Management Coach and Consultant with Pathfinder Product, a Test Double Operation. Since 2016, Michael has worked on large-scale system modernizations and migration initiatives at Verizon. Outside his professional career, Michael serves as the Treasurer for the New Leaders Council, mentors with Venture for America, sings with the Columbus Symphony, and writes satire for his blog Dignified Product. He is excited to discuss data product management with the podcast audience. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.
• About our guest Max Fritzhand: Max is a software engineer and entrepreneur based in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a passion for innovation and automation. With a background in developing user-centric tools, he’s built projects like Bolta to simplify social media management and empower creators. Known for his drive to achieve financial independence, he explores investment opportunities and strives to build impactful, scalable solutions. A creative thinker with ADHD, Max channels his energy into solving complex problems and building a fulfilling work-life balance. Connect with Max on LinkedIn.

All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.

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Do you love what you're listening to? Please rate and review the podcast, and share it with fellow practitioners you know. Your support helps us reach more listeners and continue providing valuable insights!

The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.

In Episode 24 of Data Product Management in Action, our host Nick Zervoudis is joined byTefi Trabuchi, Data Platform Product Manager at SumUp, to discuss her experience transforming a reactive data platform team into a user-focused, strategy-driven powerhouse. Tefi shares how she tackled challenges like burnout, prioritization struggles, and resistance to product practices such as user research and OKRs. She highlights the pivotal role of user interviews in shifting mindsets and the delicate balance between reducing risk, ensuring compliance, and driving innovation. Tefi also emphasizes the value of clear communication and curiosity when working in highly technical domains. This episode offers practical insights for product managers navigating the complexities of data, AI, and machine learning.

• About our host Nick Zervoudis: Nick is Head of Product at CKDelta, an AI software business within the CKHutchison Holdings group. Nick oversees a portfolio of data products and works with sister companies to uncover new opportunities to innovate using data,analytics, and machine learning.Nick's career has revolved around data and advanced analytics from day one,having worked as an analyst, consultant, product manager, and instructor for startups, SMEs, and enterprises including PepsiCo, Sainsbury's, Lloyds BankingGroup, IKEA, Capgemini Invent, BrainStation, QuantSpark, and Hg Capital. Nick is also the co-host ofLondon's Data Product Management meetup, andspeaks & writes regularly about data & AI product management. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn.

• About our guest Tefi Trabuchi:Tefi is a Data Platform Product Manager at SumUp, where she focuses on making sure our data tools are not only secure and efficient but also provide a smooth user experience for our internal teams. Before this, she led the development of an in-house Data Observability tool at Glovo, introducing governance rules and SLAs for key datasets. Tefi enjoys working closely with teams to create practical solutions that make accessing and using data easier and more intuitive, so everyone can make more informed decisions faster. Connect with Tefi on LinkedIn.

All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.

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Building a Data Mesh

The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.

In Episode 23 of Data Product Management in Action, our host Frannie Helforoush is joined by Soheil Mirchi, a technical product manager. Soheil discusses his company’s shift from a centralized data lake to a decentralized data mesh architecture. He outlines the three types of data products—source-aligned, aggregated, and customer-facing—and highlights the importance of data contracts and testing. Learn about strategies for measuring success through metrics and customer feedback, along with lessons on starting small and fostering data democratization. Tune in for essential insights on effective data management!

• About our host Frannie Helforoush: Frannie's journey began as a software engineer and evolved into a strategic product manager. Now, as a data product manager, she leverages her expertise in both fields to create impactful solutions. Frannie thrives on making data accessible and actionable, driving product innovation, and ensuring product thinking is integral to data management. Connect with Frannie on LinkedIn.

• About our guest Soheil Mirchi :Soheil is a Technical Product Manager at Temedica, a health insights company focused on transforming complex healthcare and pharmaceutical data into actionable insights. Leading a team of data engineers, scientists, and analysts, Soheil drives the development of cutting-edge data products while guiding the company’s transition to a data mesh architecture. He is passionate about empowering teams with the autonomy to manage their own data products and believes in a collaborative approach to driving innovation in the health tech space. Connect with Soheil on LinkedIn.

All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.

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Data Dynamics: Navigating the Role of Data Product Managers

The Data Product Management In Action podcast, brought to you by Soda and executive producer Scott Hirleman, is a platform for data product management practitioners to share insights and experiences.

In Episode 22 of Data Product Management in Action, we welcome back our host Michael Toland as he chats with guest Chandan Gadodia. Listen along as they explore the vital role of data product managers. Discover the distinctions between data, IT, and functional product managers and their contributions to product success. Learn more about key focus areas like data pipelines, quality, and standards, as well as the role of AI in enhancing data quality. Join us for an enlightening discussion on the evolving landscape of data management!

• About our host Michael Toland: Toland is a Product Management Coach and Consultant with Pathfinder Product, aTest Double Operation. He has worked in product officially since 2016, where he worked at Verizon on large scale system modernizations and migration initiatives for reference data and decision platforms. Outside of his professional career, Michael serves as the Treasurer for the New Leaders Council, mentors fellows with Venture for America, sings in the Columbus Symphony, writes satire posts for his blog Dignified Productor Test Double, depending on the topic, and is excited to be chatting with folks on Data Product Management. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.

• About our guest Chadan Gadodia: With over a decade serving in data and analytics, Chandan Gadodia, a seasoned Data Product Manager, has held several roles within the industry. From managing internal data assets to overseeing global data products, Chandan's passion for learning from diverse perspectives, connecting with global colleagues, and contributing to growth for himself and his organization has been constant. He is a big advocate for data literacy and strongly believes in data driven business outcomes. Connect with Chadan on LinkedIn.

All views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect their employers or anyone else.

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Do you love what you're listening to? Please rate and review the podcast, and share it with fellow practitioners you know. Your support helps us reach more listeners and continue providing valuable insights!